Native American singer Joanne Shenandoah to perform free concert Feb. 14 at SMU

DALLAS (SMU) – Grammy Award-winning singer songwriter Joanne Shenandoah will present a concert at SMU on Valentine's Day, Saturday, Feb. 14. The Native American artist will perform her unique mix of traditional and contemporary Iroquois music at 7 p.m. at SMU's Hughes-Trigg Theater, 3140 Dyer St. 

For more information and to register, visit www.smu.edu/dedman/dcii. The concert is free but reservations are requested.

"The concert will have some love songs and could be for those who are in love, out of love and wish to be in love," Shenandoah says.

Shenandoah, whose native name translates as "She Sings," is A Wolf Clan member of the Iroquois Confederacy, Oneida Nation. A prolific performer who has produced 17 recordings, she received a Pulitzer Prize nomination for her composition, "Ganondagan," and contributed music to the soundtracks of "Transamerica," "Northern Exposure," "How the West Was Lost" and "Indian in the Cupboard." She's performed and recorded with legendary entertainers such as Jim Morrison, Bono and Willie Nelson, and has won more Native American Music Awards than any other artist. She is the only artist to win a Nammy, a Grammy and a Pulitzer nomination.

Shenandoah has performed at five presidential inaugurations, Carnegie Hall and the Smithsonian Museum, as well as before the His Holiness the Dali Lama and the Vatican. She served in 2014 as co-chair with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on the Task Force on Native American and Alaska Native Children exposed to Violence. She advocates for peace for women and children.

In addition to the concert, Shenandoah and her husband, Douglas George-Kanentiio, will present afternoon workshops Feb. 13 and 14, which are open to the public:

1-3 p.m., Friday, Feb. 13, "Our Relationship to Water-The Vibration of Voice and Music," presented by Joanne Shenandoah

The Forum, Hughes-Trigg Student Center

Shenandoah will discuss the vital importance of water for the survival of Earth and the role of sound, speech and music in the natural world.

1-3 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 14, "Native Survival During a Time of Prophecy, " presented by Douglas George-Kanentiio, Mohawk, vice president Hiawatha Institute of Indigenous Knowledge

The Forum, Hughes-Trigg Student Center

George-Kanentiio will present the Iroquois predictions and perspective of current ecological changes on Earth and discuss strategies for survival.

The visit of Joanne Shenandoah and Douglas George-Kanentiio is sponsored by SMU's Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute, Scott Hawkins Lecture Series, Gartner Honors Lecture Series, Clements Center for Southwest Studies and the Department of History.

For more information, visit www.smu.edu/dedman/dcii.

# # #